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May 11, 2023

Cops: Waterbury driver seriously hurt in Middlebury pileup

FILE PHOTO — A section of I-84 westbound reopened late Wednesday morning after a

FILE PHOTO — A section of I-84 westbound reopened late Wednesday morning after a three-vehicle crash closed the road between exits 16 and 17 in Middlebury.

MIDDLEBURY — A Waterbury driver was seriously hurt Wednesday morning after his car was rear-ended on the highway, according to state police.

The crash sandwiched the vehicle between two larger pickup trucks before it went into another lane and hit a flatbed tractor-trailer, according to state police.

Around 6:45 a.m., troopers out of Southbury were called to the scene near Exit 17 for a "report of a collision," state police said. Medics and the local fire department also responded.

The agency said a 2010 Dodge Ram attempted to merge from the center lane into the left lane when traffic slowed. The truck rear-ended a 2007 Ford Taurus, pushing it into a GMC Sierra pickup truck.

The Taurus " then entered the center lane," state police said, where it collided with a Freightliner tractor-trailer towing a flatbed trailer.

The driver of the Taurus, a 40-year-old Waterbury man, was taken to Waterbury hospital with serious injuries, the agency said in a news release. He was listed in stable condition.

The state police accident reconstruction unit responded to the scene. Authorities shut down the westbound side of the highway for about four hours Wednesday morning, resulting in traffic delays.

The road reopened around 11:25 a.m., according to state police.

The agency said the driver of a Dodge pickup truck, a 34-year-old Harwinton man, was issued an infraction for following too close resulting in a motor vehicle accident.